Minecraft creator Markus Persson revealed in a tweet that the game will become the latest in a long line of titles to be adapted for the silver screen after the rights were snapped up by Warner Bros.
Excited to be the one to break the news to fans, Persson tweeted yesterday, “Someone is trying leak the fact that we’re working with Warner Brothers [sic] on a potential Minecraft Movie. I wanted to be the leak!”
Warner Bros acquired the rights for the film from Swedish developers Mojang AB and, according to an exclusive on Deadline.com, it will be a live-action take on the open-world game.
Minecraft players are given the freedom to build anything they want from virtual blocks. Monsters can also turn up to thwart construction plans, though. It was also revealed yesterday that the game now has 100m registered users and PC sales total 14.3m – a fan-base any film franchise would salivate over.
Another Warner Bros movie based on a widely loved block-based building game – albeit one that takes place in reality – is currently topping box-office charts around the world. Animated family comedy The Lego Movie has grossed US$280.5m worldwide since its release earlier this month and Vertigo Entertainment, the production company behind it, led by producer Roy Lee, are also signed up for the Minecraft movie.
In fact, Minecraft is in good company with a string of gaming titles coming to the live-action screen soon. Need for Speed starring Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul touches down next month and Warcraft, based on the enduringly popular MMORPG World of Warcraft, is expected in 2016.
